The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 2 — Section 327

Ver. 1.-0oncerne.dfor the Btumbling-blocka, The disciples of Jesue evldontly enter- tnincd mRny expectations which, though plausible and excusable enough, were not 1'01lsoneble; and hence inevitably, sooner or later, there must be a crushing collapse of their hopes. Indeed, the sooner such a collRpse came the better. Terrible ond over- whelmin~ was the experience, but it was brief; and once over, it did not return. And Ril the wliile we can ~ee that Jesus had these experiences constantly in mind. I. THE FIGURE HERE EMPLOYED. Jesus would speak words of such a kind as that by attending to them, the disciples would escape oft'ence. 'fhe allusion is to something coming in our way which may cause us to stumble, perhaps to fall. This aarees with the whole spirit of the disoouree, in which Jesue agam and agRin speaks of h~ disciples as making progress in a particular way. And what Jesus wants is 1.o take out of the way all difficnlties coming from wrong notions and expectations. We all have difficulties enough in our Christian life, what we may call external difficulties, without adding to them difficulties of our own making. And surely in that same spirit Jesus deals with us still. He seeks to spare us the stumbling-blocks. Othera may have stumbled, but that is no reason why we should stumble too. And just as we put up signals of all &Orts to catch eye and ear in dangerous places, so Jesus does the same. If any one has to do with guarding against the main dangers that beset human life, surely it is he who is eminently called the Saviour. He who leaves the ninety and nine to bring back the wanderer will take all possible means l-0 keep him from wandering again. II. 'l'IIE EFFECT OF SUCH AN INTIHATION ON OUB mNDB. 1. A continuous feeling of wf-distrv.st. We mw;t n6ver forget how easy it is to go wrong. The longer we live the more rellSOn we have for distrusting ouraelves. We need a wisdom, a foresight, a largeness and depth of view, altogether beyond our own. Our hesitating, vacillating actions come often just because we listen too entirely to the suggestions and prophecies coming out of our own hearts. Our natural boldness and our natural fearfulness are equally without reason. We must not listen too readily either to the suggestions of self or the suggestions of others. Be warned by the experiences of these first disciples. All their notions had to be upset, all their dearest fancies dissipated, before they could get at the truth. 2 . .A continu-ous regard to JUUB. Jesus must be ever in the foregro1.1I1d if self is to be ever in the background; Stumbling begins the moment the hand of Jesue is let go. We are but of yesterday, and know nothing; Jesus is of eternity, and knows everything. He who seeks to sweep all stumbling-blocks out of our way never stnmbled himself. We can only take a step at a time, and it must be just where Jesus tells ns to plant it. That is the secret of safe progress, and progress always in the right direction.-Y. Ver. 7.-.Absent in tM body, present by tM Spirit. L THE NEED OP A STRONG Al!SERTION. Jesllll says," I tell you the truth." Jesus never says anything but the truth, and yet we can see here clearly what need there was for the most solemn and emphatic mode of statement. For what an antecedent improbability there was that his absence could ever be better than his presence I For him to vanish from the natural sight of his disciples might well be reckoned the greatest of calamities, until actual and abundant experience showed it to be one of the greatest of blessings. Jesus had to make it clear that he meant exectly what he said, nothing else and nothing less, Until we become wiser, it is the natural, the inevitable view that to lose what we can see is a loss never to be made up from some unseen source. Not without reason did these disciples set value on the incarnate life of Jesue. Il LooK AT THE .A.8BEBTION IN 'rHE LIGHT OJ!' BlSTORICAL OONFIBHATION. It is clear to ue, looking at all the facts in I heir connections, that the departure of Jesus was an advantage to the -0.isciples. If WJ had been numbered among them we should have IIAid beforehand, "Impossible!" And now looking back on all in the light of history, it is plain that what caused at the time auch exquisite grief opened wide the door to joys and blCSllings unspeakable. It is also plain what a boon the death of Jesus was to himself, delivering him, as it did, from all further exposure to pain of body and grief of heart. But what Jesus would ever have us comprehend le how his departure is dis- on. xv1. 1-33.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. ,JOHN.